If there's anyone that I could imagine Jean-Marie Le Pen supporters revering, I can't say Muhammad pops into my mind. But that's precisely what's happening, according to the Washington Times. French Muslims are apparently rallying behind Monsieur Xenophobe in increasing numbers:

A small but significant minority of French Muslims intend to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right National Front leader in this month's presidential elections -- a remarkable achievement for the politician known for his anti-immigrant stance.

Some of the country's 5 million Muslims do not want a new wave of immigrants to arrive. They also support Mr. Le Pen's anti-American rhetoric and his publicized "friendship" with the people of Iraq. Others are attracted by his traditional stand on moral issues such as abortion, family and the death penalty.

No one should forget just who this man is. This is the same man who called concentration camps and Holocaust gas chambers a "detail" in World War II, and called the occupation of France by Nazi Germany "not particularly inhumane". While he is banalizing and heavily revamping his image including visits to largely Algerian multiethnic suburbs, I almost want to cry over the prospect of an ethnic community giving over the keys to its survival to a vocal xenophobe. (However, we did also see the far-right Vlaams Belang carry a huge wave of support among Jewish voters in Belgium, some of whom remain vocal and ardent supporters of the group. )

If Le Pen thought the World Cup soccer team had "too many colored players", I hardly see how -- his moral stands aside -- he can be trusted to provide equal services and opportunities to "colored" families and neighborhoods.